


In their Shadows

by Kaydalen



Series: Kind des Universums - Child of the Universe [2]
Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Childhood Friends, Gen, No Romance, Pre-Mass Effect 1, The first meeting of my Shepard and Liara, Young Shepard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-04-30 16:44:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14501262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaydalen/pseuds/Kaydalen
Summary: "Homeless kids forgotten by society were given a perspective by being offered to work for an information broker, to earn their own money, to build their own future when everyone else refused to do it for them. Not only on earth, but all over the galaxy.The lost became the societies biggest enemy."Maeve Shepards work as a Shadow is coming to an end when allies unexpectedly turn to enemies and an Asari Commando gets her life back on the right track.(Part one of the "Child of the Universe" series)





	1. Chapter 1

The kids knew something was amiss, they had known it for weeks. Things hadn't been that twisted since First Contact. Everyone who was old enough had seen it on TV six years ago; the younger ones had heard the stories, felt the aftermath.

The First Contact war between the Turians and humans. Where everything changed.

The press had been head over heels for the story, already talked about it like it was the end of the world. The aliens no one ever believed existed were very real all of a sudden. And they were not friendly.

Earths civilization was scared to death.

For 3 months it felt like an apocalypse. News of the death count drove the people out on the streets in the middle of the night, demonstrating for peace, demanding an end of the war, refusing to let more loved ones die in a fight they couldn't possibly win. The fear of the aliens was burned inside their heads, always present, like a song you couldn't forget. Pushing past their rational way of thinking. Making them blind.

The Systems Alliance, humanities representation in a galaxy they thought belonged to them for the longest time, was blamed for everything that happened. If they had never discovered the Charon relay and jumped via FTL jump into unknown space none of this would have happened. If they had never discovered this artifacts on Mars, humanity might not be on the edge of distinction, though would have remained oblivious.

Something bigger than the Alliance and something bigger than humanity itself had to put an end to all the destruction and despair. The Council, a galactic government, demanded to bring an end to this war, which was entirely fueled by fear and nothing more. They brokered peace between humanity and the turian race.

But even after the fights ended and the Systems Alliance and the race they represented was welcomed onto the Citadel, the mistrust didn't vanish. Neither on the humans nor the Aliens side. For some it shifted to curiosity, for some it shifted to antagonism and some were so consumed by hatred and rage, over lost spouses, kids and loved ones, that it started to cloud their judgement.

Around that time a new organization arose. Founded by someone called “The Shadow Broker”, managed by a handful of Drell and Turian spies, implemented by human children. Their little spies, their “little Shadows”, as they used to call them.

Homeless kids forgotten by society were given a perspective by being offered to work for an information broker, to earn their own money, to build their own future when everyone else refused to do it for them. Not only on earth, but all over the galaxy.

No one payed attention to a little girl begging for money, while actually eavesdropping an conversation by a couple of people nearby. No one cared when a little boy played hopscotch on the pavement, while silently observing his target.

The lost became the human societies biggest enemy.

Maeve Shepard was one of them. Her father killed in the First Contact War, later abandoned by her mother. She didn't even remember both of their faces. It didn't matter. They didn't matter.

The orphanage responsible for her later kicked her out for speaking up and she nearly got beaten to death while trying to defend the Aliens she adored so much. The Shadows had saved her back then. Scraped her weak and bloody form off the pavements to patch her up and offer her work. A home. A purpose.

Maeve did know what being left alone felt like.

They all had their own stories to tell, their own reasons for being here, but barely anyone shared them. She wasn't the oldest of them, but not the youngest either. Midge was just seven years old, a little boy who was probably neglected due to him being a biotic. No one knew his real name, he gave this one to himself, like a lot of them did. To hide their true identities.

He was scared of his own powers. Was crying whenever they flared up and he believed he couldn't control them. He was so vulnerable that Maeve couldn't help it but care for him.

They were always seen together, Midge became her little helper on missions. In return she was like a big sister to him. Calmed him down when he was scared, took the heat when his powers overwhelmed him, held him in her arms when he bawled his eyes out due to the guilt of hurting her.

They were as thick as thieves.

And even though the risk of being discovered was slim the Shadows were always on edge. Barely dared to sleep, always on the watch, always on the run, traveling from one part of the city to another. Avoiding the broad and crowdy streets, constantly lingered in the dark, picking up orders from middlemen, sneaking, hiding, spying – surviving.

Soon competition became another real problem. The Drell and Turian spies were picky about who got to do the job and who could earn the money. Their own numbers got smaller by the day. No one knew what the reason for the kids disappearing was. A lot of them were insecure and this insecurity led to fear. A fear not to be good enough anymore and they got angry at those who were.

Maeve and Midge were their favorite victims to vent their hatred on. Their team had the advantage of a biotic, a small one too, who could get in and out of locations easily without being detected. Maeve was a strong personality, a born leader, charismatic and brave, but this made her a thorn in the flesh of the others.

The Shadows, the ones still left, were tearing themselves apart. A group that once had been whole collapsed into smaller teams, who were weary of one another, on the edge of paranoia, they stopped their wandering and protected their part of the city like wolfs their territory. And who dared to enter without permission was threatened to be ripped to shreds.

Their numbers reduced much quicker, but now due to unnecessary deaths.

What once had been a great opportunity, a decent way to live, to survive, turned into a nightmare. And not only the Shadows themselves were displeased with this development, but their middlemen as well.

Jobs didn't come in as frequent as before. Missions didn't earn them as much money as before. And the Shadows numbers decreased even faster. Soon there were just four big groups left in the whole city. The situation wasn't perfect, but stable.

 

**Year 2163**

 

It happened in the middle of the night and no one was prepared.

Shepard was sleeping in a dark and cold alleyway with Midge by her side when noises shook her awake.

Her eyes snapped open, stared up the surprisingly bright light in horror, her breath quickened. A flashlight right above her blinded her and she had to turn her head away.

“Keep your mouth shut”, a voice snarled, someone grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her to her feet. She swayed, like being drunk, still dizzy and sleepy and couldn't process what was going on. Not fast enough. Everything happened so quick, it was just like with the others.

Far away Maeve could hear the cars racing on the streets, could hear people talking and laughing, enjoying their evening, while she and Midge were silenced by a bunch of armed Drell, gagged, held in a strong grip so they couldn't escape.

Shepard was called fearless by the other Shadows, but in that moment the fear overwhelmed her, had her body shaking, her thoughts racing, made her palms sweaty. Midges biotics flared up, flickered, but in this moment of terror he couldn't possibly control his powers, so he simply launched himself a few inches off the ground, just to be dragged back down by the Aliens.

The panic in his eyes was replaced by desperation and tears, he snorted and sobbed, just gave up to get rid of the hand covering his mouth. Maeve's adrenalin made her keep fighting. She kicked and punched and tried to hit something with fists and elbows. But there were five of them. Two Drell, Three Turians. All dressed in black to be swallowed by the dark they moved in. These spies controlled by the Shadow Broker tried to stay unseen and unknown as much as the Shadows themselves.

Maeve just didn't want to give up that easily. All the kids eventually had the fear something like this would happen. They knew it, they knew something was wrong as soon as their partners started to disappear. But no one actually believed it until they were gone themselves and then it was too late. Though she was sure no one expected it to be the Aliens, their employers, snatching their little spies away. It was madness.

She tried to push away her anxiousness and bit down on the reptile like hand of the Drell holding her. He breathed in hard through his teeth in pain, his grip loosened and Maeve saw her chance to ram her elbow into his stomach and eventually wiggle herself free. The Alien dropped her to the cold and hard ground.

“It's no use to struggle”, he snarled and aimed his rifle at her, “Unless you want to die right here.”

Time slowed down, Shepards pupils widened as she stared down the barrel of the gun, she gritted her teeth. As much as she did want this way to life to end, she didn't want to die. There were so many things she still wanted to see, she still wanted to experience.

But she had wandered the darkness for so long, she couldn't bare the thought of standing in the light. She was so used to be hidden, used to be protected by her name, her status, the Shadows themselves; The light would expose her, make her suddenly visible to the world.

She didn't want to stand in the spotlight. This planet was so loud, the people too fake. The things she had heard, the things she had witnessed and passed on – it was like humanity enjoyed the pain and suffering of others. This toxic behavior had even spread to the Shadows, had made their community fall apart and she hated them for it.

She was so sick of planet Earth. And it was her safe heaven at the same time. The darkness here was thick, thick enough to hide, thick enough to blend into it.

But a small part of her secretly hoped they would take them away from here. Take them away to a different place. A different planet. To the Shadow Broker himself. Maybe it was better there, less toxic, less evil, less of everything. But still dark enough for her too hide.

There had to be something like that.

A place among the stars just for her.

Maeve just opened her mouth to answer, felt her body tense, as the Turian, who appeared to be the leader of this little task force, approached them.

“We don't have time for that bullshit”, he hissed and before anyone else could react, he lifted his Rifle, Maeve tried to raise her arms in time to protect herself, but it didn't keep him from smashing his gun right into her face.

A great pain exploded in her nose, blood instantly splattered over her lips, her chin, left dirty marks on her clothes and the back of her head hit the ground with an audible crack.

Her mind faded in a great white light. She was sure this would be the last thing she'd ever see.

 

But she was wrong. Maeve's fever dreams were wild and messy, didn't make any sense, made her feel uncomfortable and paranoid, though she couldn't tell anymore why after she awoke from her unconsciousness.

It took her eyes some time to adjust to her bright environment. Instinctively she turned her head away from the light shining down on her from the ceiling.

She wasn't in the alleyway anymore. Hell, she wasn't even on earth anymore or so it seemed. And she wasn't alone. Just now the noises reached her ears. Something like a distant hum, like the inside of a beehive.

There were people all around her, forced to sit so close together Maeve couldn't either breath nor move her arms or legs, who were bound tight. She gasped for air, tried to calm down her wildly throbbing heart, to choke down the tears that were about to form in her eyes, while she was doing her best to get a good grasp of the situation.

If she didn't know better, she would say they were on the inside of a car of some sort, a truck. The ground they were sitting on cold and hard, metal-lined, as well as the walls and the ceiling with the flickering light source.

This couldn't be happening.

The room had no windows, and only two closed door so she couldn't check on her location. Shepard tried to get a better look, but all the people were so jammed she didn't see anything but scared faces.

Midge was nowhere to be seen. Her stomach cramped painfully and her lips escaped a whine. She had failed. She had failed him and herself. Why had she hesitated to stop the Aliens from taking them? One part of her whispered “Because you were glad they did”, but Maeve tried to shove it away, to silence it, make it stop. She didn't want to hear it.

People were crying. Sobbing. Whispering. Laughing, like they had all their sanity sucked out of them. It was even worse than facing silence.

The most of them were human children. A lot of them alone, threw glances around like Shepard herself did, confused and lost. But she could also spot Turians, Batarians, Asari and even Quarians. She had seen them in the newspaper, on TV. Everyone knew about the Aliens by now. She couldn't really tell with the Aliens, but they all didn't seem to be that old. Nearly all of them were kids or teenagers or at least that's what she assumed.

Maeve had never thought the Drell would betray them like that. Now she couldn't believe how stupid she was for putting her faith in spies. Though she wouldn't dare to speak too badly of them since she was pretty much one herself. For years she had spied on humans and aliens, normal citizens and politicians. Had been eavesdropping, observing, selling the information to the Shadow Broker. But she had never hurt anyone with it.

Or did she?


	2. Chapter 2

Naalea T'Zusa had seen her share of troubles in her life time.  
She remembered awkward encounters with other Asari newcomers who thought touring around the galaxy as a mercenary was the way to go, only to realize later that it definitely wasn't. It only did come in handy for any Maiden who was desperate to piss her parents off, she could tell.  
Her own parents weren't pleased. House T'Zusa was pretty strict, full of military. She could go back generations in their family tree and not count anyone who wasn't at least a Commander or a Huntress. She had refused to become like them, to wear their Clans markings like a badge of false honor, like all of her cousins had decided to. Being announced to be the future 'Heir of the House' had finally done it and she had called it quits.  
Back then she believed they would never take her back, not after all that investment and all the hopes they had placed in her. Being educated on a private military school didn't come cheap after all. The future heir of the House was always offered the best they could spare.

  
But they had embraced their daughter when she had limped back to them nearly 50 years later, remorse in her heart, homesick and tired, with a broken shoulder, that would change her life forever, but much more wiser and calmer. Losing all her friends, brothers and sisters in arms and dozens of civilians because of a single mistake was punishment enough.  
Weeks later she wore her Houses face markings with pride.  
Even if her years as a mercenary had made her wiser, that way of life sure did leave its scars, emotionally as well as physically. The best treatment House T'Zusa could offer wouldn't fix her shattered shoulder, she would always have trouble drawing a gun from now on, that was unavoidable. Properly aiming did no longer require only skill, but determination and painkillers. She had rejected the cybernatic implants which may would had been able to correct her bent bones, though had made her feel less like herself in the long run. It would have been wrong.  
But Naalea was a fighter, always had been, so she had rebelled against her own body and signed up for the “Biotic Academy of Thessia”, BAT for short. Not to be closer to her father, who spend her time their as an instructor, but to remind herself of what she was still capable of. To remind her parents that she wouldn't be a burden to them even with her fractured shoulder. She could still take responsibility, she could still lead their House like they wanted her to.  
Though no one said it would be easy and for years she struggled to keep up with the others, younger, fitter, even if not less determined and her pledge to prove herself and her parents her worth drove her to keep going.

  
But trouble followed her like a lost varren. Asari Maiden could be cruel and when they realized this 'Pureblood Admirals daughter' wasn't as good with a sidearm nor her biotics as they assumed her to be, they wouldn't stop harassing her.  
In the end after all these promises and all that talk she was ready to give up nearly halfway through her training. Her father wasn't any help either, she surely didn't go easy on her and punished and scolded her for small mistakes over and over again. Naalea knew she didn't mean any harm, she had inherited her fierce personality from her Krogan father, but it was incredibly difficult like that to stay on her path, focused, to not lose her way.  
Who eventually changed her mind was Dr. Liara T'Soni. A maiden, about a 100 years younger than her, a gifted biotic and impressively intelligent, who had already earned her title through hard work while Naalea was still practicing how to probably handle a gun. For Asari standards she was scarily young and displayed it pretty clearly in her undeveloped social skills. Though her mind was as sharp as the one of a matron.  
They met on a very hard day for the soon-to-be Asari Commando and her presence and her cheerfulness cheered her up and brightened her whole life. Both of them had to leap high hurdles early in life, with them being Purebloods and daughters of well known Matriarchs. So they decided to back each other up, not to fail now, after they had come so far. Liara and her eventually became friends and soon her purpose to keep going, keep trying.

  
She trashed the thought of ever acquiring a precise aim again or to properly bend the dark matter to a perfectly shaped Singularity and instead honed her close combat skills. She was fast and quiet and soon as good in wielding a weapon with her left hand as with her preferred right one. The Asari started with knifes, continued with spears and lances to test her balance and ended up with an shortsword. A traditional Asari sword to be exact, especially designed for Huntresses, sharp and deadly. Able to perform a silent and perfect kill, especially when the blade was enhanced with biotics. And Naalea soon became it's master.  
Her newly discovered skill eventually helped her to graduate from the BAT successfully and lead her own Commando Unit at the young age of only 160. Her shoulder was still bothering her, even 30 years later and she was sure it would always be a problem, though she wouldn't let it stop her.  
She owed Liara a great deal and even when their ways parted, as they both chose different paths in life, they would always keep in touch, always stay connected, even if they were lightyears apart.

So Naalea did have seen her fair share of troubles in life. Though it all didn't compare to what she was confronted with that one morning she rejoined her Commando Unit on Thessias docking bay.  
Her sister Pheissa, introduced to the Unit by her father as a very skilled sniper, handed her the description for their next assignment. Their eyes met for a split second, before Naalea started flipping through the digital pages on the datapad and pushed, accompanied by her Squad, through the busy port to their destination. They usually traveled on their own frigate – property of her House, passed down Generations from one Huntress to the next.  
The mission was highly classified, passed from one Matriarchs hands to the other. About every big House of Thessia seemed to somehow be involved. She could even spot her mothers name on it; Geleya T'Zusa, former Captain of the Destiny Ascension, now Admiral and an appreciated advisor as well as respected head of House T'Zusa. Bitterly Naalea had to admit this elegant signature was probably the only reason her unit was trusted with this; her mother had had her tentacles in it. It was hard to tell if that was a good or a bad thing.  
The systems of the 'Hyetiana', named after one of the Asari Republics, were already heated up and prepared for departure. She was only a frigate, navigated like a brick and the drive core could barely comply the strict regulations that had been set for a ship her class, but she had lots of emotional value for Naalea and her House. She wouldn't trade her for anything.

Seated on the floor near the medical bay as the rest of the Crew reported for duty one by one the Huntresses scanned the digital interface, until Nyfinia Daliius relieved her off the reading matter before she could even get halfway through.  
“Come on, get up. You have more than enough time for this later”, the Matriarch insisted, scanning the Asari Maidens form and fed her Omnitool with data, checking Naaleas vitals and biotic pressure. Her brows furrowed accusingly at the sight of the numbers unfolding before her.  
“45%, that's ..”  
“Way too low, I know, Doc.” Naalea rolled her eyes at the much older Asari. She was hearing this lecture way too frequently and every time this encounter ended with an unsatisfied Nyfinia and a Naalea stuffed with mild biotic amps to keep her numbers in check. Apparently instead of keeping her biotics healthy and steady, her neural system discharged on a regular basis, like it was trying to prevent her body from overheating. The Doctor couldn't pinpoint the cause of this very rare behavior yet, mostly because of her patient furiously refusing to let her examine her further. Though she had respected her wish to keep quiet to members of House T'Zusa as well as her squad about it, as powerful biotics were essential for military service; especially if she wanted to continue leading her own Commando Unit. And Naalea was grateful for it.  
This time Naalea didn't even flinch when the familiar adrenalin rush caused by the liquid biotic amp was ringing in her ears, got her blood pumping and had her biotics flaring like a torch.  
Her biotic power was an another thing the Units CO admired Liara for.  
“I'm serious, you should really take your amps regularly”, the Doctor scolded her as she watched her biotic pressure stagger within a range she could consider acceptable. She usually didn't settle for only 'acceptable', but Naalea wouldn't let her fuss over her longer than necessary, “Or at one point you'll end up a wreck, if the pressure drops too low.”  
“I know. I will, I promise.”  
“Oh come on, you'll have forgotten about it once I turn my back.”  
“Are we done?” She just acted like she didn't hear her accurate accusation and reached out. “Can I have the report back now?”  
“Whatever makes you happy, child.” The old Asari sighed, though a gentle smile curled her lips as the Maiden snatched the datapad out of her hands again, gifting it her undivided attention.

They were assigned to crush a ring of slavers, pretty big fish in the sea, though at first glance she didn't spot a reason for this mission to be highly classified, a reason for all that hush-hush. Until she reached the interesting part that involved the Shadow Broker. This intel broker with a large network of spies he spun over the whole known galaxy, connecting him with barmen, mercenaries and politicians alike, had really gotten his hands dirty this time. His practices were mostly clean, even if his motives were unclear and not that see-through, but what this official document informed her about made her head spin.  
According to documents retrieved from a dead turian child on Palavan children were used to acquire information to later be sold. The spy got paid, but it was barely a tenth out of what some of this was worth. Of course the younger the employers the more oblivious they were about it.  
This information in itself wasn't pretty and reports stated that the turian on Palavan wasn't killed, but died due to dehydration, but after this discovery security had paid more attention to the children traveling around the cities. Lots of attempts to keep track of them failed, a lot of them seemed to have mastered their job by now. And the ones they managed to keep a closer eye on, at some point were just gone.  
Other species were informed about this issue as well and the Salarians, Drell and even Asari alike reported the same; Something was going on with the homeless kids. They hadn't cared enough before, weren't able to maybe, even if they had a hard time admitting it, but now they had observed the situation long enough to say for sure that these kids were being abducted. Where and by whom they were taken was unknown. Though the Shadow Broker was a likely suspect due to his involvement. It was likely he was trying to get rid of them after he didn't have any use for them anymore.  
Naalea reached the last page of the report, scanned briefly the signatures again and bitterly launched the datapad across the room. She and her unit weren't trusted with this because they thought they were efficient and able to handle it, but because the Asari government wanted to keep quiet about this mess that would made them look bad if it was ever made public. Naalea was the child of an admiral, the official heir of a highly military House; the Matriarchs had been certain this would be the best way to keep it sealed away. The fact that only Infiltration Units were involved in this and that she had never heard about this even if the investigation had been going on for months proved it. Only now they had found a lead and now they were trying to get rid of the problem as quick as possible.  
That her mother was involved in this left a bad aftertaste in her mouth.

  
Naalea pulled herself back to her feet, snatched the datapad of the ground and wiped the information stored on it clean, after she had made a private copy for her Omnitool. She would take this job anyway, she had decided. Her whole life she had tried to earn bits and pieces of respect here and there, after trust in her had dropped to a dangerous low, to show society she was more than ready to lead the House T'Zusa at one point. She wouldn't let this opportunity slide.

As the Hyetianas Captain called for the CO over the comm, Naalea had to make her way up to the bridge, passed Engineers and other Crew members and eventually joined Enula Sedora, a Matron on the verge to becoming a Matriarch and self proclaimed mother of the squad, who was waiting for her in front of the cockpit. Her expression was hard to read.  
“What do you think?”, she asked, stopped her from just silently passing her by reaching out. According to her reaction the CO had probably been the last one to read the blasted report.  
“This has been kept quiet for for months”, Naalea stated through gritted teeth. She wasn't up for talking, but knew that Enula only meant well, “According to this no one had cared about this kids before- But now that they have gone missing and maybe took some government secrets with them, it's suddenly very important and very confidential.”  
At least half of it was true, but Naalea tried to hide that it actually was her pride that had been damaged.  
“I know what you mean”, Enula agreed, “but does their motive make a difference in the end? We are going to help these kids, that's all that matters.”  
She was an idealist and the CO admired how she could look at the bright side like this. Or maybe these were just her motherly instincts talking.  
“It still feels wrong.”  
Without looking back Naalea passed her, but could hear her quickly follow up.  
The Hyetianas pilot, Ajarna Raix, saluted as they entered. The Captain, Cea D'zana, nooded in approval, stood straight and proud, hands behind her back.  
“Our destination, Commander?”, she asked.  
“Set course to Omega”, Naalea demanded, as she recalled the last information their mission assignment had to offer.  
“Aye, Aye.”  
Salarian STG eventually had tracked down shuttles leaving Sur'Kesh, without getting any official clearance, basically through their backdoor. Their course was always different, but all eventually led them to the same destination; Omega. They probably had been sure the lawless station would keep their operations safe and hidden, but this was no longer the case.  
This mission was too big for only the Salarians to handle, so they had requested assistance from their fellow Asari Infiltrators; The Commandos. It was unknown how many children had already been taken and what was about to happen to them, but it had to be stopped immediately.  
Naalea and her unit were about to meet with the Salarians to retain another ship which had just left their homeworld.  
Time was scarce.  
Naalea watched over the screens displaying the outside how the ship closed the distance to their systems mass relay. Powerful energy reached out for their vessel, embraced her, held her in a tight grip, caused the Hyetiana to glow, before it consumed her whole.


End file.
